Henry w



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY W. BURR, OF CAMBRIDGEPORT, MASSACHUSETTS.

SHOE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters P a-tent No. 248,287, dated October `18, 1881.

- Application filed December 16, 1880. (No model.) y

To all whom t may concern:

Be it Aknown that I, HENRY- W. BURR, a citizen of the United States, residing at Gambridgepo'rt, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shoes 5 and I herebydeclare the f'ollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itvappertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters or figures of reference thereon, which form a part of this specilication.

The object of this improvement is to provide a shoe that shall admit the foot from the rear by turning downward and outward the liexible heel-section of the upper, while the quarters are separable along the rear of said section, lapping over theJ same, and provided at their extremities with a suitable fastening device.

My invention consists in a shoe having an independent flexible heel-section or tongue capable of turning down outwardly and quarters overlapping such tongue and fastened outside thereof at their rear ends, the lower parts of said heelsection and quarters being joined permanently together on cach side at a point in rearY of the breast of the heel.

The drawingsillustrate my invention as applied to an overshoe; but it is equally adapted to other styles of shoes.

Figure l is a side view with one ofthe quarters raised and the heel-section turnedv down; Fig. 2, a'persp'ectivc view of the shoe complete, and Fig. 3 a rear view.

In the drawings, Ais the heel-section of the upper, rising from the rear of the heel, and preferably extending about as high as the remainder of the upper. It is made eX-ible v enough to turn down, as shown, so as to admit the foot from the rear.

B B are the quarters, having fastening devices F F at their extremities and preferably cut in one with the Vamps G C, which are shown as united in front by a central seam, D. E E are rivets or stays inserted through the parts A and B at their junction with the foxing. It is a peculiarity of my shoe that this point of junction is so far back as to be located in rear of the breast of the heel H.

The fastenin gs for the rear ends of the quarquarters nearly into contact and to lap them 6o l over the heel-section.

If made tolap one upon the other, the tongue A may be considerably reduced in dimensions. The shape given to the rear ends of the quarters and to the upright tongue A may be varied according to the style of shoe desired, and a variety of effects may thus be produced without departing from the spirit of my in vention.

The advantages of my improved shoe are, 7o

principally, readiness of putting on and off, absence of fastenings in front or sides, ease of movement to the foot, due to the yielding of the quarters at the rear, and, iinally, that snow, sand, &c., are not forced beneath the quarters by the forward movement of the foot in walking.

I am aware that in sandals and some other forms of shoes the foot enters from the rear,

and also that straps passing around the foot,

above the heel, have been used to secure shoes in position; but I am' not aware of a shoe, prior to my invention, having a exible tongue extending up from the heel beneath overlapping quarters provided at their rear ends with 8 5 fastening devices and stayed on both sidesto the lower part of the flexible tongue back of the breast of the heel, so as to give strength and yet permit free turning down and up of the tongue for readyinsertion of the foot from 9o the rear and subsequent lapping of both quarters over the heel-section.

I therefore claim as of my invention- A shoe having quarters separable at the heel and provided at their extremities with 9g fastening devices, in combination with a flexible heel-section, as described, to which the quarters are stayed at points in rear of the breast of the heel, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in Ioo presence of two witnesses.

v HENRY W. BURR.

Witnesses:

A. H. SPENCER, E. A. PHELPs. 

